RICKY PONTING warned England that their worst nightmare was about to come true after Australia homed in on the first Ashes whitewash in over 80 years.
The Aussies chalked up their fourth straight win after skittling England twice inside three days in Melbourne - and skipper Ponting insisted they weren't finished yet.
It leaves a shell-shocked England- who scored just 161 at the second time of a
sking- needing a minor miracle to avoid defeat number five when the sides lock horns again in Sydney on Tuesday.
An Australian win at the SCG will complete the first Ashes clean sweep since England's 5-0 defeat in 1920-21 - and it would be no more than either side deserves.
Ponting said: "We've still got a few things to prove to people around the country and to ourselves.
"You've got to play each Test match like it's your last and we will be going all out to win in Sydney.
"We want to play every bit as well as we can as a team and we will be trying to do that again. It's been a special few days for us and a special series for us."
What will linger longest in the memory after this morale-sapping series is over will not be England's ham-fisted efforts with both bat and ball but the ease at which they let Australia close the door every time a chink of light appeared.
Few would dispute that England's latest defeat was more conclusive than those they experienced in Adelaide or Perth - and yet again they had their chances.
It is their failure to make the most of them that has left the travelling Barmy Army crying into their beer night after night.
England looked well set on 101-2 in the first innings and had Australia on the rack at 84-5 in reply but they failed to grasp the nettle on both occasions - an all-too familiar tale.
Beleaguered skipper Andrew Flintoff said: "We have got to regroup and work hard. No-one wants to go home after being beaten 5-0.
"We all want to win a Test match on this tour and Sydney is our last chance to do that.
"It was a tough Test for us. Australia played some fantastic cricket and they outplayed us for all of the three days.
"We've got a couple of days off and a chance to get some practice in - we've got one Test left and we want to make the most of it."
Wicketkeeper Chris Read ended with six catches - equalling England's Ashes record and falling just one shy of the world record as Australia added 47 after resuming on 372-7.
It left them 260 in front on first innings, with Andrew Symonds adding just two to his overnight 154 before Read snaffled him off Steve Harmison.
Saj Mahmood made light work of Stuart Clark and Glenn McGrath to end with 4-100 and things perked up temporarily when openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook put on 41 - England's highest first-wicket stand of the series.
But, by the time Ian Bell (2), Kevin Pietersen (1) and Paul Collingwood (16) were back in the pavilion, the writing was well and truly on the wall at 75-4.
Strauss top-scored with 31 over the best part of three hours, while Flintoff made 25 in what has proved as miserable a series with the bat for the stand-in skipper as it has with the captain's armband.
Read's stubborn 26 not out gave coach Duncan Fletcher a timely reminder that England's top wicketkeeper might not be so far behind rival Geraint Jones in the batting stakes.
But he soon ran out of partners and England are fast running out of chances to avoid writing their names into the history books for all the wrong reasons.
